iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Galaxy S25 Ultra drop test puts Samsung’s titanium flagship against Apple’s aluminum unibody
Ever since the launch of the iPhone17 series on September 9, questions about the durability of the phones, not just the slimmer iPhone Air, have been circulating. Apple switched to aluminum and glass for its flagship iPhone 17 Pro Max instead of titanium, which theoretically makes it less durable than not just the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but also the flagship competitor, Galaxy S25 Ultra (buy on Amazon). A new drop test has shed light on how the two phones stack up against each other.
PhoneBuff posted a video on YouTube (linked below) comparing the durability of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Galaxy S25 Ultra through a drop test. They used a machine to hold the two phones at 1-meter and then 1.5 meters and drop them on their back, front, and on a corner. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has an aluminum unibody frame while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a titanium frame. The back of the iPhone is partially glass protected by a ceramic shield while the back of the Galaxy S25 Ultra is Gorilla Glass Victus 2 entirely.
Results:
The 1-meter back drop test had the back glass of both phones crack, though more prominently on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. That’s also because there is less glass on the iPhone 17 Pro Max to begin with. The Samsung offering showed some cracks on the cameras as well. Functionality remained unaffected, nonetheless.
The second test was a 1-meter corner drop and this is where titanium’s endurance over aluminum came into play. Not only were there scuffs on the corner of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, it was also dented. The Galaxy S25 Ultra, on the other hand, showed only minor scuffing. The next test, a 1-meter face drop, cracked both the screens, though PhoneBuff noted it was not as bad as previous models. Apple’s improved ceramic shield is stronger but still not strong enough to withstand a 1-meter drop.
The following tests were the same drops but from 1.5 meters and they showed further degradation along the same lines. The back glass of the Galaxy S25 Ultra was mostly shattered with all cameras cracked. On the other hand, the iPhone 17 Pro Max showed only a little more damage when dropped on its back. Same when dropped on their front. The corner got even worse for the iPhone, to the point where it seemed to cause focusing issues for the primary camera, though PhoneBuff stated that the camera issue was seemingly resolved on its own.
There have been iPhone 17 series teardowns and durability tests conducted by various channels. The most surprising from the series has been the iPhone Air that has showed strong resistance to bending. A recent drop test for the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro conducted by Allstate Protection, however, showed both phones shattering when dropped face-down from six feet.
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